


In a World of My Own

by Gohandinhand



Series: All in the Golden Afternoon [2]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Absolute tooth-rotting fluff I am not kidding you, Beca is just REALLY weak for her baby, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Family Fluff, Kid!Fic, it's a thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 18:31:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5015518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gohandinhand/pseuds/Gohandinhand
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every time Alice’s little body lit up with pure joy at the sight of her mother, Beca was pretty sure she could feel her insides literally melting to goo. While Chloe had had Beca wrapped around her finger practically from minute one, it was nothing compared to what Alice had done to her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In a World of My Own

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PinkCanary](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkCanary/gifts).



> Oops, it turned into a series! The first timestamp piece to follow Anthony Kennedy Appreciation Day.
> 
> Probably 60% of the credit goes to PinkCanary, who bugged me incessantly about finally finishing this and then kindly did all the beta work for me.

Yawning, Beca stumbled her way out of the en suite bathroom, wiping the remnants of toothpaste from her mouth as she went. Stopping to stare blearily at the video monitor, a smile spread across her face against her will as she observed the antics taking place in the next room. Beca tiptoed down the hall, cracking the door open and poking her head in, internally laughing as she observed her daughter literally rolling around the crib like a manic log and chewing on her fingers as she babbled to herself. Catching sight of Beca, Alice sat up quickly and started crawling towards the end of the crib nearest the door, grinning broadly and excitedly squealing at her.

“Hi, sweetheart!” Beca cooed – literally cooed, although Beca would never admit that she could make that sound to anyone outside of their house – at her baby.  Sliding her hands under Alice’s arms, Beca scooped her up, cradling her into the front of her body. Alice wrapped one tiny hand tightly around Beca’s upper arm, relaxing the rest of her body and resting her head on Beca’s shoulder while nuzzling into her neck. Cradling Alice against her, Beca hummed in contentment as they swayed back and forth in the dim half-light of the nursery, patting Alice’s back gently. Every morning and after every nap, without fail, the baby wordlessly insisted on starting their time together with a quiet hug. And Beca was not above admitting she was going to do everything in her power to keep that ritual going as long as she possibly could. She couldn’t even argue any more when Chloe teased her – the two had managed to turn Beca into an official cuddler.

Every time Alice’s little body lit up with pure joy at the sight of her mother, Beca was pretty sure she could feel her insides literally melting to goo. While Chloe had had Beca wrapped around her finger practically from minute one, it was nothing compared to what Alice had done to her. With the curve of Alice’s body completely relaxed into her, the trust and contentment Beca could feel pouring from her daughter just about did her in every time.

Squeezing Alice tighter to her for a moment, Beca placed a kiss on her temple, noting her adorably lopsided itty-bitty pigtails. She must have slept on her left side again, judging by the way the tiny sprout of brown hair had been distorted enough to stick straight up against her scalp instead of proudly out to the side. Beca snorted to herself, thinking back to how she had told Chloe – many times - that putting Alice to bed with pigtails was completely useless, but Chloe had insisted and Beca hadn’t protested more than a token amount. Truth be told, Beca had a weakness for pigtails that Chloe knew about and ruthlessly exploited now that Alice’s hair had finally gotten long enough. So yes, Alice _may_ have slept in pigtails even though Chloe was out of town, but there also wasn’t anyone around to catch her in her obvious self-indulgence.

Win for Beca. 

Beca stopped the patting motion and ran her fingers up and down Alice’s back instead, grinning to herself when Alice started wriggling before finally emitting a high-pitched giggle. Still, her head remained firmly planted on Beca’s shoulder even as she squirmed her midsection back and forth.

“Are you ready, Al?” Beca murmured in Alice’s ear. Alice shook her head briefly before seemingly reconsidering and nodding slightly as she lifted her head away from the crook of Beca’s neck. Beca smiled at her, planting a kiss on Alice’s forehead, and then, unable to fight the urge, placed another on Alice’s plump cheek. Alice laughed, crooking her face up at Beca and presenting her cheek for Beca to press another and then another smacking kiss against her skin. Then Alice leaned in, showing off her newly acquired skill for giving kisses, as she pressed a slightly-too-wet kiss against her mother’s lips. Beca grinned, thanking Alice for the kiss, then discreetly wiped away the trail of slobber left behind as she shifted Alice to her hip.

Walking out through the living room and into the kitchen, Beca quietly asked Alice if she was ready to eat.  When Alice nodded, she slid her into the high chair and fastened a bib around her neck.  Beca pulled a box of frozen pancakes out of the freezer – Chloe didn’t even trust Beca to make pancakes from a mix, considering what a hazard the smaller woman was in the kitchen – and popped a few into the microwave. Grabbing her phone from the counter where it had charged overnight, Beca distractedly grabbed a sippy cup from the cabinet, filling it with milk and placing it down in front of Alice as she checked her notifications.

“Fuck!” she cursed to herself, eyes darting over to make sure Alice was fully absorbed in her cup and paying her no mind before returning to her phone. She tapped out a reply quickly, setting her phone down as the microwave beeped and she pulled the hotcakes out to separate onto two plates.

Setting Alice’s breakfast in front of her on her tray, Beca dropped into the chair next to her at the table, pouring an alarming amount of syrup over her own breakfast as she thought through her choices.

“Well, Miss Alice, it seems as though Katie is too sick to come watch you today, and I have to go in this morning, so… I guess you’re coming into work with me for today?” Beca playfully bopped Alice on the nose as she talked to her, but internally grimaced whilst Alice laughed at her teasing. She hadn’t taken Alice into the studio with her since the toddler had learned to walk two months ago, and she was concerned about what havoc Alice was going to wreak with her expanded mobility.

 But Chloe wasn’t due back from the trip with her students until later that afternoon so Beca didn’t really have any other options, with their nanny sick and unable to watch Alice and none of their family in town – at least until Aubrey’s flight touched down later. The thought made her glance at the clock and she cursed, realizing that they would have to hustle to make it on time through LA rush hour traffic to the 9am session she had scheduled.

 Hurrying through their morning routine, Beca had Alice groomed and dressed in what she was moderately sure was a matching outfit in record time. She glanced in the diaper bag to check supplies (a habit she had only gotten into after the now-infamous day that involved an Alice with a GI bug and a diaper bag that hadn’t had diapers restocked after their last outing – Beca was still traumatized) and stuff in some snacks and toys that she hoped would be enough to keep Alice entertained for a few hours. She tugged the bulging bag over her shoulder, plucked her own bag off the counter, and reached for Alice’s hand to lead her to the garage.

Alice waved goodbye to the empty house (or the ghost, Beca snickered to herself, then made a mental note to freak Chloe out with it later) then toddled alongside Beca out the door into the garage. Beca pulled open the car’s back door, tossing the diaper bag in to land on the floorboard under Alice’s seat, then scooped the toddler up and folded her into her seat, moving quickly to buckle her in before Alice could begin to protest being restrained.

 

 

After winding her way through the typical LA traffic – she kept herself entertained by singing along to the radio and watching Alice’s feet (the only part of her daughter she could actually see) wiggle back and forth in time with the music – Beca finally pulled up in front of the studio. Her mouth thinned as she observed the unusual crowd taking over the sidewalk in front of the doors, and she groaned quietly.

“Your mama’s going to kill me, Al.” Shrugging to herself, because it wasn’t as if she had much of a choice, Beca pulled into her parking spot, then carefully pushed her door open and swung out of the car. It wasn’t until the sound of her car door slamming shut sounded out across the lot that several of the men loitering in front of the building noticed her.

At which point – ugh, Beca hated this part of celebrity with passion – the excited yelling started.

Beca ignored them, pulling open the back door and reaching down to release Alice from captivity. She scowled, trying to figure out how to handle this, even as she unbuckled Alice and pulled her from her seat. She hadn’t been prepared for the paparazzi to be there – hadn’t expected this at _all_ , not with the artists she was working with right now.

She and Chloe had carefully shielded Alice from the paparazzi - mostly successfully - for these first sixteen months of her life. But Beca suspected there was no way in hell the toddler was going to let Beca carry her all the way across the lot and into the building with a blanket over her head like they did when she was a tiny infant; and Beca wasn’t prepared with anything else like the baby carrier they’d used to shield Alice at other times. Beca muttered a curse under her breath – although she really didn’t need Alice picking that up and landing Beca even further in the doghouse with Chloe than she was already going to be – and grabbed Alice’s bag out from under her seat, sliding the strap over her shoulder. Beca shifted Alice from her hip to her front, trying her best to situate the wiggly tot in a way that would block the paps from getting any kind of useable shot. She was sure she was going to look ridiculous – Alice’s legs now hung down to Beca’s thighs when she held her like this, making her look even shorter than she already was – but Beca made the decision to ignore it and locked the car before setting off across the parking lot at a rapid clip.

She held Alice tightly to her as they neared the small crowd, trying to keep Alice from craning her head up and around to check out the racket the throng was making. Beca had to push through the crowd while ignoring the men who were shouting at her and her baby – her fucking _baby_ , and they didn’t have the decency to back off a few paces and act like civilized human beings? She hated having her personal space invaded on the best of days and their lack of respect was almost enough to send her into a rage.  Only the presence of Alice and the thought in the back of her mind of her PR rep verbally eviscerating her if she lashed out kept her in check. With a sigh of relief, Beca finally shoved her way through the last of the crowd, waving her access card at the reader by the door and slipping inside.

The din of the vultures outside was immediately cut as the door closed behind her, and Beca took a second to breathe and shift Alice back to her hip before she continued further into the building at a rapid speed. Rounding the first corner, Beca only narrowly managed to put the brakes on enough to avoid smashing straight into Gia – who she just now realized wasn’t at the front desk as usual.

“Beca! Oh no. I am so sorry, we didn’t have time to call and warn you about the swarm and… and you have Alice with you. Shi-Crap!” Beca couldn’t help but glare at the receptionist, even though it obviously wasn’t her fault. 

“What the hell is going on? I’m working with Halsey today, neither of us is important enough to have a crowd just sitting around for us like that. And yeah, I’m sure they got at least a few good shots in. Chloe is going to murder me.” Gia winced, nervous about the news she was about to hand over to the infamously short-tempered woman in front of her.

“Um, well… Justin Bieber has apparently been in talks about switching labels and he’s here for a tour today?” Gia rushed out, and Beca’s jaw literally dropped.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Beca bit out, not even bothering to moderate her words for her daughter. “There is not a chance in hell I’m working with him.  They had better not be expecting…” 

Gia tittered nervously.  “I’m, uh, I’m really not sure?”

Beca ground her teeth together, rubbing at her temple with her free hand.

“Okay. I am going to ignore this whole mess for now and go get ready for Halsey. Send her back as soon as she gets here, okay?” As soon as Gia waved her hand in agreement, Beca continued down the corridor, this time at a somewhat safer pace.

A pace that she completely and totally came to regret when a crowd of no less than ten came pouring out of a door in front of her, accompanying who else but – of course – the douchebag of the hour. Greg – who Beca was surprised to see even came down from the main office, but they really did go all-out to secure high profile names – lit up at the sight of Beca coming down the hall.

“Oh! Justin, this is Beca Mitchell, one of our best producers – have you heard of her?”

“Producer of the Year at the Grammy’s two years running and a Best New Artist under her belt.  Who hasn’t heard of her?” Bieber answered, directing a smarmy grin at Beca. As he advanced on her with a hand held out, Beca had to fight her urge to back away and maintain the space between them.

“It’s so nice to meet you! I’m wanting to make a big move now – which is why I’m here, obviously - and I’ve been playing with some ideas for my next album and how I want to change my sound. I’m thinking maybe something kind of similar to what you were experimenting with in Red?”

Beca gritted her teeth and pasted a smile on her face as she shook his hand. Forced pleasantries weren’t exactly her style, but being an asshole in front of the president of the label meant fallout she just _really_ didn’t want to have to take the time to clean up later. Compulsory contact with Aubrey for so many years meant that some of her ideas about efficiency rubbing off on Beca had been inevitable, even if Beca still refused to admit to any of it.

Then Alice let out an ill-timed squawk, and Bieber’s attention turned to her. “Is this your daughter? Oh, she’s so cute! What beautiful eyes!” He cooed, nauseatingly sweet.

Clearly having decided that fawning over the baby was the way to suck up to Beca, he reached out a hand – to stroke Alice’s hair, or pinch her cheeks, Beca honestly didn’t have a clue, nor did she give a fuck. She blatantly shifted Alice to her other hip, away from the slimy pop star in front of her, and fought the urge to growl at him to keep his slimy hands off her baby.  
  
Alice, as if sensing Beca’s discomfort, buried her head in Beca’s neck and positioned herself so she was shielded by the bulk of Beca’s body between her and the creep. Beca held in a triumphant smirk – barely – and plastered a passably apologetic look on her face.  
  
“Sorry, she’s in that shy phase now. Not so much a fan of strangers.” Nothing could be further from the truth – Alice was almost alarmingly fearless - but it wasn’t like any of the group was going to catch her in the lie. Raising her gaze and directing her attention to Greg, she added an explanation of her daughter’s presence. “Our nanny called out last minute and Chloe’s out of town right now, so we’re making do for the morning. Halsey loves her, so it’s cool.”

“Oh, you’re with Halsey today? Excellent!” Greg exclaimed, waving off Beca’s fumbling explanation – much to Beca’s relief – and eagerly latching onto the last bit. “Why don’t we pop in to your studio real quick and let Justin take a peek around before you guys get started?” Beca gritted her teeth but nodded her assent, leading the pack to the studio and waving them in.  
  
Bieber gave the sound booth a perfunctory scan, then settled himself in at the soundboard to contemplate something – clearly readying himself for a chat – and started touching the equipment, which _hell no_. Beca saw red and had to stop herself from lunging for his throat. It was only Halsey’s timely arrival, and then the sudden cessation of sound in the wake of her unexpected entrance, helped her regain control of herself.  
  
“Hey.” Beca gritted out, and then shot her an apologetic look when everyone’s attention turned toward the artist. 

Halsey shot Beca a “what the fuck?” look in response, and then waved awkwardly at the room.  “Uh, hey, Beca. Greg, nice to see you again. And… Justin Bieber?”  
  
“Yeah, he’s been touring the studio.” Her eyes narrowed as she directed her attention back to Bieber. “I hope you like what you see. I’m pretty proud of my set-up. And kind of possessive.” Beca added with her usual – and oddly intimidating – bland expression. Bieber jumped up hurriedly – she didn’t even feel bad, there was no way in hell he didn’t know better – and then smoothed his hair back as if to compensate for the moment of inelegance.  
  
“Yeah, uh, well, I was hoping to spend a little more time with you to talk about –“  
  
“Unfortunately, you’ve caught me at a bad time, as we’re on a tight schedule today with this new album. Which is why I’m here with my baby at all.” Beca cut him off.

She had a sinking feeling she was going to be waving her contract in Greg’s face soon to get herself out of this one. Bieber seemed _awfully_ intent on working with her in particular, and she suspected that his switching labels might be contingent on a very significant rider that specified her desired role in the whole situation. But she had refusal rights, and if it came down to it she wouldn’t be opposed to walking away from the label entirely over this. She _had_ been toying with the idea of starting her own company… but that was a thought for another time.  
  
Greg finally ushered Bieber and his entourage out of the room, and Beca shook hands with them as they passed, ripping her hands out of Bieber’s moist ones as soon as socially acceptable. As the door shut behind them, Beca finally felt safe enough to set Alice – who had been bored almost literally to tears during the prior exchange – down on the ground.  
  
“So, looks like the Biebs has a wittle crush, doesn’t he?” Halsey waggled her eyebrows.  
  
“Ugh, gross, don’t even start. Is he even allowed within 500 feet or whatever it is of children? It felt exploitative even letting him look at Alice.”

Halsey let out a laugh of delight as the child in question ran straight at her and crashed into her legs, babbling excitedly the whole way. The woman had been a common fixture at the Mitchell house over the past year, since she and Beca had started working on her new album, and Alice already knew her quite well.  
  
“Hey, Ali-cat! What’s up?” Halsey lifted her up, then flipped her upside down and dangled her from her knees while Alice howled with laughter. Beca settled in behind her board and started going through what they would be working on that day - mainly adding background vocals to a few almost-completed tracks – while reaching out and unerringly finding Alice’s stomach with her fingers and tickling her while she and Halsey otherwise ignored the baby and seriously conversed about their plans for the session. When Alice finally laughed so hard she gasped for breath, they decided to take mercy on her and Halsey flipped her over one more time, placing her on her feet. They both sniggered at the sight of Alice, woozy from the head rush, staggering her way across the room like a tiny drunk. As she settled in with her toys, Halsey crossed into the booth and pulled the headphones on while Beca checked her mic.

If motherhood taught Beca one thing, it was how to juggle. (Sadly, not _literally_ juggle. Actually, maybe she should check into that…) Alice played with her toys as usual: that is, with the attention span perhaps equal to that of a common housefly. The highest priority Beca had was keeping Alice _quiet_ so they could actually get some work done, so everything else normally enforced was out the window. Eat your cheerios on the floor? Sure. Roll through the cheerios and leave the crushed remains ground into the carpet once you’ve eaten your fill? Yeah, whatever. Rummage through Beca’s purse and then laptop for interesting things to fiddle with? Okay. Mess with the keys on Beca’s laptop until the |\ and  <, buttons fell off? Yeah, those can be stuck back on. Play with those weird toddler apps Chloe had installed on Beca’s phone for a full hour? That was a _full_ _hour_ _of quiet_ , so hell yes.  
  
Still, there is only so much a one year old can take. Right as Alice reached the end of her already artificially stretched rope, Beca spoke into the microphone to let the singer know they were wrapping for the day. She hit the button to key off the “recording” light and open up the doors to free ingress again as she simultaneously scooped the cranky toddler up into her lap. 

“Hey hey hey, sweet pea. What’s the malfunction?” Beca questioned as she rubbed Alice’s back. She didn’t expect a reply – particularly since the one year old had a vocabulary of about six words – and she knew the answer already, anyway. Alice had been cooped up in the small room and kept as quiet as possible for hours, she was long overdue for a nap, and Beca had run out of snacks to ply her with an hour and a half ago.

And, to be honest, Beca was kind of there with her.  
  
While Halsey packed up her own stuff, Beca wrangled her phone away from Alice to start packing up all of their items that, thanks to the miraculous tornado-like powers only found in small children, had somehow been scattered from corner to corner across the entire room. Alice screeched indignantly at the loss while Beca stood and shifted her to her hip, trying to simultaneously soothe her overtired daughter and attempt to pack the truly ridiculous amount of crap (how the hell does someone so small need so much?) back into the diaper bag.

Intently focused on her tasks and not dropping her squirming, aggravated kid on her head, and aiming to start heading home before Alice lost her mind entirely, Beca didn’t even notice the studio doors opening until Alice’s wiggling turned even more desperate and she started repeatedly shrieking directly into Beca’s left eardrum.

“Mama! Mamamamamamama! Maaaaa!” 

Beca turned and, upon seeing her wife ducking into the lounge, let out a loud groan of relief.  
  
“Our savior!” she drawled, only partly sarcastic. She then shot a confused look at her watch before observing, “Huh, I didn’t think you’d have time between getting back from the trip and picking up Aubrey for us to see you until this evening.”

Chloe let out a light laugh at the scene she had walked in on - and Beca’s palpably swelling desperation.  “Yeah, well, we got back a little early and you were holding my baby hostage.” Chloe joked, dropping a quick kiss on her wife’s cheek while grasping Alice as she threw herself desperately into her arms.

“Even after all of that, I guess I wasn’t cool enough while mama was gone, Alice? What betrayal! I’ll remember this.” Beca joked, pointing at Alice with a mock glare.

Alice patted Chloe’s cheek several times while continuing to babble her name, as if to reassure herself that her mother had returned from her short trip.  And in return, Chloe cooed a greeting at her baby and pressed several kisses to each of her rosy cheeks. Satisfied with her inspection, Alice immediately began tugging impatiently at the collar of Chloe’s shirt and fixed her with a frustrated glare – frighteningly reminiscent of a common Beca expression – when Chloe failed to react quickly enough.  
  
“Yeah, Becs, I don’t think it was so much the cool factor.” Chloe laughed as she walked herself backwards and settled herself down onto the couch along the back wall. Shifting Alice sideways in her lap, she tugged the bottom of her shirt up and undid the clasp on her bra cup, at which point Alice lunged forward and knocked Chloe’s hand out of the way as she eagerly latched on.  
  
“Ah, yes.” Beca said with an eyeroll. “I think she’s still personally offended that my rack is non-functional.” 

Halsey, stepping out of booth into the lounge just in time to hear Beca’s last remark, snorted out a laugh. 

“I find it hard to believe anyone could be offended by your rack, Beca.” Beca choked on her laughter, enthusiastically smacking Halsey’s hand when she held it up for a high five.  Halsey shot a wink at Chloe while Beca smirked, and Chloe simply shook her head while letting out a peel of muffled laughter in response, trying not to disturb the already drowsy toddler at her breast.  
  
Beca and Halsey quietly confirmed details for the next recording session, and as soon as Halsey departed with a wave towards Chloe and the oblivious Alice, Beca returned to her clean-up duties while quietly chatting with Chloe about how the choir trip had gone and updating her on what she and Alice had been up to for the last two days. (“Chlo, she learned that lions go ‘rawr’ and she thinks it’s hilarious and does it all the time, but now she ‘rawrs’ when I ask her about ANY animal sounds and I can’t even get her to moo anymore!”)  
  
When they stood up to leave – Chloe (her clothing set to rights) cradling Alice, who had completely passed out, and Beca shouldering the diaper bag and Chloe’s purse – Beca’s face sobered so quickly that Chloe instinctively scanned the immediate area for danger.  
  
“Uh, Chlo, was there anything weird outside when you got here?”  
  
“I have the impression from your tone that the two pigeons I saw screwing on the sidewalk aren’t exactly the sort of ‘weird’ you’re asking about, right? 

“Uh…. Yeah, no. Although I’m kind of disappointed you didn’t film that for me?” Chloe fixed Beca with a look and Beca sighed in defeat before continuing. “Well, when Alice and I got here this morning… we ran into Greg in the hall. With Justin Bieber and his entire entourage. It seems like wants me to work with him on his next album.”  
  
Chloe’s jaw literally dropped – Beca had to stifle a laugh at how much Chloe seemed like an actual cartoon character at times – before she let out a sound of utter confusion.  “I… wait… are you serious, Bec?”  
  
“Yeah. I’m trying to figure out how to get out of it, already… But that’s not even the point. Either the paps were already following him, or they were tipped off that he was here, because when we got here this morning there was a bunch of them in front of the building.”  
  
“Fuck!” Chloe exclaimed, then automatically glanced down to check on Alice and make sure she was still soundly asleep. Their attempt to have Alice _not_ pick up curse words as her first real words was probably a futile one, considering Beca was her mother, but they were trying at least. 

“I was totally not prepared. I did my best to shield her, but they probably got at least a couple of useable shots. I’m sorry.” Beca said with a miserable expression and an attempted half-hearted shrug, which she quickly aborted when the weight of the packed bags pulled on her shoulder.

Chloe sighed and briefly closed her eyes. “I guess we’ll just have to hope they have no reason to publish them, then.” Beca started to apologize again and Chloe waved it away, cutting her off. “It’s not your fault, Becs. We’ve done our best and so it was good enough –for longer than I expected, honestly.  But we knew this was going to be something that would happen.” Chloe shifted her weight, rolling her shoulders and trying to redistribute Alice’s dead weight without rousing her, and it attracted Beca’s attention.  
  
“Well, they’re gone now at least, so I guess it’s safe to head out. What time is Aubrey getting in again?” Beca questioned, taking a quick glance at her watch. Chloe checked the time herself, and her eyes widened in alarm. 

“Crap! Uh, in 45 minutes?” Chloe said with chagrin. Quickly, she and Beca worked out the details, deciding that Beca would drive home with Alice so she could at least finish the rest of her nap in her crib, and Chloe would head to the airport to pick up her best friend before returning home. They headed out of the building, waving goodbye to Gia (Beca somewhat apologetically after her burst of anger that morning) and crossing the thankfully empty parking lot. Chloe carefully transferred Alice into her car seat, holding her breath when Alice stirred, and then letting it out in relief when the baby relaxed back into her seat with a heavy exhale. 

Chloe pressed a hurried kiss to Beca’s lips, ever mindful of how Aubrey would react if Chloe was late to pick her up, and turned to go, only to be stopped short by Beca’s hand around her wrist. Beca tugged her back in close to her body, and grinned at Chloe’s look of mild shock. 

“I haven’t seen you in several days and our lovely daughter hijacked our greeting earlier, so I’d like a proper hello now.” Beca smirked at her wife. Chloe’s gaze softened, and she closed the remaining distance between the pair and pressed a sweet, lingering kiss against Beca’s lips. When she tried to pull away, Beca followed and pressed her lips harder against Chloe’s, tasting just the faintest hint of Chloe’s favorite chapstick as she traced her lips with her tongue. Chloe let out a sound, not quite a moan, and automatically opened her mouth to Beca’s exploration.  

Several minutes later, Chloe suddenly pulled away from the intimate embrace. Beca smirked as she saw renewed awareness sweep across Chloe’s face, accompanied by a light blush. She was pressing Chloe securely against the car as they made out like randy teenagers, in plain sight of anyone who might walk by. Chloe had also clearly lost track of time, and was about to be late picking up Aubrey if she didn’t leave immediately. Considering their friend wasn’t exactly the type to take well to that kind of oversight, Beca allowed her wife to pull back even as she let out a groan of disappointment.  
  
“Thank you, that was much better.” Beca declared, trying and failing to be stern – the sappy look she couldn’t quite wipe from her face gave her away. Chloe laughed once more, allowing Beca to press a final (and more properly chaste) kiss to her lips before whirling around and taking off towards her own car. Beca climbed into her driver’s seat and waited to make sure Chloe’s chronically unreliable Jeep was behaving (and that Chloe didn’t have yet another fender bender in the parking lot) before pulling out of her spot and heading home.

 

  
  
After transferring Alice successfully from the car to her crib without disturbance – Beca briefly considered making note of the monumental occurrence in her calendar before deciding it was too much work and also ever so slightly over the top – she set about readying for Aubrey’s visit. She washed the linens for the guest bed, tidied the house and, after some contemplation, pulled out some fish to defrost for dinner. Chloe would cook, of course, but Beca knew it would be pretty quick to prepare for someone who was even mildly competent in the kitchen. Just as Beca moved the laundry to the dryer, she heard Alice wail out the announcement of the end of her nap and her displeasure at awaking to now find herself captive in her crib. Giving up on her attempt to be quiet, she hastily turned the dial on the washer to start it and scurried to Alice’s room.

As Beca pushed open the door, Alice immediately stopped her clamoring and instead squealed in joy – and then immediately fell over as she tried to make her way too quickly to the end of the crib nearest her mom. She chortled at herself as she pulled herself back upright, and Beca couldn’t help but laugh at her in response. Alice’s eyes immediately lit up and Beca watched her deliberate about purposely making the move again, groaning in the back of her head. Alice was the epitome of a performer already - _clearly_ Chloe’s daughter - and Beca knew that once one of Alice’s moves had been laughed at, the toddler filed it away for repeat sessions. Beca just hoped the face-planting move wouldn’t be attempted in a less opportune location, because that wasn’t going to be a fun lesson for Alice to learn.

 Apparently deciding that getting out of her crib was a better decision than continuing her comedy routine, Alice extended her arms towards Beca, demanding “uppa!” As usual, Alice immediately relaxed into Beca’s body as soon as she was lifted up, dropping her head to her shoulder and dreamily tapping her mother’s arm lightly in a matching rhythm to Beca’s pats on her back.

The standard post-sleep-snuggle routine completed and diaper changed, Beca carried Alice out to the living room. She distracted Alice with her new puzzle – the thing made _noise_ which, since when were puzzles electronic, and Beca was definitely not going to admit that it had scared the shit out of her the night before when the lion’s roar had randomly gone off as she passed by it to go to bed – she ducked back into the kitchen to check on the fish. She decided to replace the water it was sitting in with fresh warm water, and grabbed a sippy cup of water for Alice before checking her phone. Chloe had sent a text message while she was dealing with the laundry, saying that Aubrey had landed safely and they were just waiting on her bags.  Beca estimated another twenty minutes at least until Chloe would be home with their guest.

 Beca walked back into the living room, where Alice had given up on shoving the puzzle pieces back into their proper locations on the puzzle board and instead was now joyfully scattering a piled of blocks as far as she could with the abused crocodile piece. 

Beca refused to laugh and instead held the cup in front of her, presenting it to Alice. “Hey, Weird Al. Are you thirsty?” Alice nodded and immediately abandoned her post, dropping the alligator piece where she stood, and moving as quickly as she could towards Beca. Grabbing the cup, she took a gulp from the spout, then made a face of displeasure before dejectedly taking another long pull.

Beca – choosing not to acknowledge Alice’s displeasure at the “boring” drink – pulled a decorative pillow from the couch and settled in on the floor next to her daughter. 

“Okay, kiddo. Let’s figure out how to entertain ourselves until mama and Aunt Aubrey get home…”

 

  

 

When Chloe and Aubrey arrived at the house twenty minutes later after zipping over the now clear highways, Chloe paused as she pushed open the door from the garage. She listened for a moment before holding her index finger to her lips with a wink towards Aubrey and motioned to her to leave her things in the mudroom and then follow her. Chloe crept forward silently, leading Aubrey out into the kitchen before stopping in front of the wide open pass-through and observing the scene with a grin and a broad gesture towards Aubrey.

Aubrey’s jaw dropped.

Beca was seated on the floor at Alice’s level, her back towards the kitchen, tapping out a rhythm on her knees and dancing in place as she sang to the baby. Alice was twirling and swaying in her own awkward approximation of a dance in front of her mom, while letting out giggles of pure joy - and then she started intermittently flinging herself in the general direction of Beca’s lap with a screech of excitement, trusting that her mom would catch her.

 And Beca did, every time, cutting off her singing to switch to dramatically moaning every time that Alice “got her”, occasionally theatrically crashing to her back on the floor while safely cradling Alice in the air above her, who laughed hysterically at the act. Beca went back to singing, moving to her knees and holding Alice’s hands to gently encourage her and guide her through some more rhythmic dancing motions, praising her with a beaming smile when Alice made an effort to copy Beca’s motions. 

Aubrey and Chloe were silent, watching Beca interact so naturally and, frankly, adorably with the tiny person. It was so far outside of Aubrey’s concept of who Beca was as a person that she was having trouble wrapping her mind around the whole scene. Surly, smartass – okay, those probably weren’t the words she’d choose to describe Beca _now_ , after seeing how she had been with Chloe for the better part of the last decade, and she would even admit (to the right people) that Beca was a close friend…   but that was certainly how she would have described the Beca she first met at Barden (along with a few other choice words before they managed to settle their differences).

This Beca? Aubrey was leaning more towards descriptors like… tender. Affectionate. Even - dare she even think it? – _sweet_.

And then Aubrey realized that the song Beca was singing to Alice was Ke$ha.

 She tried to stifle her laugh, but only succeeded in letting out a horrible choking noise, causing Beca to shriek in surprise and immediately spin around. 

“Oh my god! You scared the shi-crap out of me! I didn’t even hear you guys come in!” Beca yelped, a dark blush spreading on her face at the sight of the women settled in the kitchen, obviously having been spying on the scene in the living room if the looks on their faces were anything to go by. Chloe smirked back at her, clearly proud that they had turned the tables on her, managing to catch her in the act.  But her triumphant expression was tempered by the soft look of overwhelming adoration that filled her eyes.

Aubrey just looked – there were really no other words for it -  utterly stunned.

The pattering of Alice’s feet as she ran around the corner as fast as she could to fling herself at Chloe finally jolted Aubrey out of her reverie, and she snapped her jaw shut with an audible click.  
  
“Really, Becs? ‘Your love is my drug?’ You couldn’t come up with anything slightly more appropriate?” Chloe teased her wife and lifted Alice into her arms as Aubrey beamed and waved a hello to the tot, who burrowed into Chloe’s neck as she grinned back at her honorary aunt. Beca – still too surprised to remove herself from her spot on the floor – stiffened and lifted her jaw in her familiar defiant pose.  
  
“I simply don’t have an earthly clue what you’re talking about, Mrs Mitchell.” Beca replied airily, shooting a wink at Chloe before hauling herself to her feet and following Alice’s path into the kitchen. She tugged Chloe – and, by extension, Alice – into her embrace and landed a soft kiss on her lips, before pulling back slightly and grazing her lips against Chloe’s ear.  
  
“Sticking with “The Wheels on the Bus” is _not_ going to up my cool factor, Chlo. I’ve got to bring my A-game to compete with you.” Beca murmured, before dropping her lips to give Alice the matching kiss she was begging for. Chloe snorted in response, rolling her eyes – Aubrey did not miss the obviously Beca-inspired mannerism – before setting about lavishing Alice in affection while Beca turned her attention to Aubrey at last.  
  
They eyed each other stonily for a long moment, before Aubrey’s face broke into a mirthful expression and she grinned at Beca smugly. “Nice moves, Beca. You should definitely take Dancing With the Stars up on that offer.”  
  
Beca slugged her lightly on the shoulder in response, then pulled Aubrey into a quick hug. “Missed you too, Ms. Tightly-wound. You wouldn’t know great moves if the hit you in the face.” Aubrey gasped in mock outrage, and Chloe finally broke into their exchange.

“Alright girls, everybody hug and make up and play nicely for the rest of the day, okay?” As one, Aubrey and Beca both turned to Chloe with a glare – Chloe unconsciously took a step back – and addressed her with the rote phrase.  
  
“Chloe, we are _not_ your students.” They droned simultaneously, then turned to look at each other in disbelief that morphed quickly into glee as they landed a resounding high-five on each other’s palms. Chloe’s eyes widened in shock at their impulsive solidarity before she broke into uninhibited guffaws, actually bending forward at her waist until Alice made a sound of protest. Chloe distractedly murmured an apology to the baby as she straightened up, rubbing her face with her free hand and taking a deep breath to regain control of herself.  
  
“Okay. Objection noted. Since you guys are such a terrific team now, why don’t you guys go grab Aubrey’s bags and get her stuff settled into the guest room? I’m assuming you pulled this stuff out for dinner, Becs?” Chloe queried, gesturing to the bowl with the now thawed fish. At Beca’s nod, Chloe continued. “Okay, Ali and I will get started on dinner then.” She shooed them away and shifted Alice to her left hip, freeing her dominant hand to start preparing their meal. As they walked away, Aubrey spotted the look of pure adoration that Beca couldn’t stop from sweeping across her face as they caught the soft back-and-forth of Chloe narrating her actions to Alice and patiently waiting for Alice’s babbling and completely unintelligible responses.  
  
It was time to face the facts. Beca Mitchell, the consummate badass, appeared to be a complete and total sap for her girls.

 

 

 

After dinner, throughout which Aubrey observed with a raised brow as Beca and Chloe clowned around as usual and slowly but surely wheedled Alice into eating a sufficient amount of her meal, Beca immediately set about taking care of the dishes. Aubrey and Chloe settled into the living room with Alice, chatting with each other while simultaneously playing with Alice – who was finding great entertainment in simply bringing the women one toy after another to hold in their laps, much to their bemusement - until all three synchronously started to let out yawns. Alice threw herself into Chloe’s lap one last time, her sapped energy glaringly obvious, then after a moment of consideration seemingly resigned herself to her fate, curling her knees up so her entire body was almost upended on Chloe’s legs and not making a single move to attempt to extricate herself from her new spot.  
  
Beca, just re-entering the room after starting the dishwasher, barked out a laugh at the sight of the drooping trio, and the noise caused Alice to blink back into greater alertness. She squirmed in Chloe's lap, making an attempt to right herself, finally awkwardly pulling herself upright in the middle of Chloe’s crossed legs before looking closely into her face and patting her cheeks while seriously repeating, “Mama. Mama.”  
  
Chloe smiled at her baby, clumsily pushing herself to her feet while keeping a tight grasp on Alice, and moved to settle into the rocking recliner next to the couch. Beca settled into the couch in the spot right next to the pair, turning on the television and flipping quickly through the listings before making a disgruntled face and offering the remote to Aubrey, who had settled near her on the couch. She and Chloe immediately fell into old rhythms and started to playfully bicker over the merits of various reality programs, Chloe calling out her vote as Alice squirmily positioned herself in Chloe’s embrace. She insistently tugged Chloe’s shirt up, forcing her to help situate the clothing and bare her breast as Alice nestled into her with a relieved sigh. Chloe rocked distractedly as Alice sleepily nursed, and Aubrey gave into her demands to put on some “mindless” – in her opinion, at least in comparison to America’s Next Top Model - reality show. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Beca’s hand reaching out and grasping Chloe’s, rubbing the back of it soothingly with her thumb while scrolling through her email on her phone with her dominant left hand. When Alice reached out and grabbed Beca’s finger also, Beca pulled her attention away from the device and directed a tiny, tender smile at her somnolent daughter.  
  
Before she could fall asleep nursing – Chloe wasn’t opposed to that normally, but Alice was still in her outfit from earlier and had the remains of dinner spread over her cheeks and hands - Chloe reversed Alice’s position and switched sides to wake her up a bit. Several more minutes passed before she unlatched Alice entirely and passed her over to Beca while pulling her clothing back together. Alice nuzzled into Beca and yawned her exhaustion, and Beca soothingly ran her hand through Alice’s hair in a repetitive motion. Checking the time, Beca decided it was time for the weary household to get a move on now before they really hit their wall.

“Chlo, the sheets for the guest bed are in the dryer. Do you two want to go get all of Aubrey’s stuff settled while I get the munchkin ready for bed?” Chloe simply nodded, then hauled herself out of the recliner and tugged Aubrey to her feet.

As Beca got Alice changed into her pajamas, brushed her teeth, and helped her pick out a couple of books, Chloe and Aubrey brought in her suitcase and made up the guest bed. Tasks completed, they wandered back down to the nursery to say goodnight to Alice. They stopped in the doorway for a moment, observing Beca snuggling with Alice in the glider and quietly reading her “Goodnight Moon.” As she turned the last page of the book, Beca caught sight of the pair hovering in the doorway. She stood up with Alice, walking her over to the women and instructing her to say “night night”. Alice gave a bashful wave, and then pressed a sloppy kiss on Chloe’s mouth and then another on the cheek Aubrey presented to her.  
  
Beca shooed the pair out so she could finish putting Alice to bed, turning on her sound machine and flipping the lights off so only the soft glow of the night light illuminated the room. Out in the living room, Chloe turned the video monitor back on just in time for her and Aubrey to catch the view of Beca laying Alice down in her crib and rubbing her back tenderly as Alice dropped off to sleep.

Aubrey was the one who broke the silent spell that had fallen over the house. “This is going to sound sarcastic, but I swear it’s not. I just… I can’t believe that _that_ is Beca Mitchell. I would not in a million years have ever thought that Beca could be described as “maternal”, but…  _look_ at that. It was shocking enough when you managed to get her wrapped around your finger, but she’s a complete sucker for that baby. She’s… she’s just amazing with her, Chlo.”

Chloe looked back at Aubrey with a twinkle in her eye and an enigmatic smile on her face.  
  
“I’m glad you think so, Bree. She really is completely gone for Alice in a way I can never hope to compete with.” She leaned in nearer to Aubrey and lowered her voice to drop her bombshell. “Guess it’s a good thing she’ll have another one to dote on in a few months, isn’t it?”  
  
Chloe winked and Aubrey’s eyes darted back and forth between Chloe’s face and stomach while the news sank in. After a few seconds, she grabbed Chloe in an ecstatic hug and let out a piercing squeal. Before she could let out the litany of questions that immediately piled up in her head, the unmistakable sound of Alice’s wails sounded through the monitor, immediately followed by Beca’s voice.

"God  _dammit_ , guys!" 

**Author's Note:**

> Join me in my trashcan at gohandinhand.tumblr.com!


End file.
